Subramani Gounden, the rotund and bald head master of the Tabia Sanatan Dharam Primary School in the late 1960s. A tough disciplinarian who did not hesitate to apply the tamarind 'chapki'-thin branch-to our tiny bottoms when we were caught stealing mango or guava from the school compound, he worked hard to ensure that we passed the dreaded Entrance Examination with marks good enough to secure a scholarship for secondary education. Regular night classes, extra lessons on weekends, loads of homework: we virtually camped in the school for three months before the finals. We all passed, and passed well, thanks to Mr Gounden. He is gone now, but not forgotten.In secondary school, we had a brilliant array of freshly graduated teachers, not much older than us, and full of enthusiasm and energy. Three stand out for me. The first was Krishna Datt, our history teacher, slowly balding, thickly bearded, and handsome. He introduced us to the great events of modem world history-the unification of Italy and Germany, the causes of the First World War, the emergence of Asian nationalism, to Garibaldi, Bismark, Mao and Gandhi. He read to us passages from the books of Denis Mack Smith, the great historian of Italy, the English historian of India Percival Spear, and the contemporary historian Geoffrey Barraclough. He introduced us to student politics by organizing a Students' Council. But my most enduring memory of him is of the day he arrived in class with a large placard around his neck bearing the opening words of the Communist Manifesto. Krishna, now big and Santa Claus-like, is a Labour member of parliament.Vijay Mishra, presently a professor of English in Canada, introduced us to the pleasures of English literature. With a fluent command of the language, a well tended goatee beard and flamboyant clothes, he cut a striking figure. He started a class library of classics which each of us had to read and talk about during the 'morning talk' period everyday. We read, while still in grade eleven, novels by Pa trick White, J ane Austen, the Bronte sisters,
Fiji is a bit like Churchill's Russia, a 'riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.' Here is an island nation, easily the most developed in the South Pacific, with a talented multiethnic population that would be the envy of many a underdeveloped nation, the hub of regional transportation and communication links, the home of international diplomatic, educational and aid organisations-it has everything going for it. And yet, despite this good fortune, it is strangely prone to debilitating self-inflected wounds that hobble its prospects and dent its future. The two military coups in 1987 and the attempted putsch in 2000 have strained race relations, damaged the economy, infected public institutions with the virus of mismanagement and failing accountability, nurtured religious intolerance and periodic acts of sacrilege against non-Christians, disrupted improvements to essential infrastructure, education and social and medical services, and led to a mass exodus of some of its best and brightest citizens. This indictment may seem harsh, for on the surface things look normal. Despite all the temptations, inducements and provocations, Fiji has not descended into a bloodbath of the type common in other developing regions. There are no unmarked mass graves, no long knives in the night. Certain institutions-the judiciary, for instance-bravely continue to uphold the rule of law despite intimidation and subversion through political interference. The press is free. But the overwhelming sense in Fiji is of the essential fragility of things, the sense that things could go wrong at any time. The almost daily reports of verbal exchanges between the military leadership and the government about who is the ultimate custodian of the national interest underlines the point. As I write this (October 2005), the Fijian Minister for Home Affairs informs the media that the Commander of the Fiji Military Forces and his family need protection because not all the ammunition stolen from the army has been returned and rogue elements continue to roam the land. And the government is contemplating passing legislation to give traditional chiefs immunity from prosecution 'for certain kinds of activities', such as trying to 'resolve disputes in volatile situations' however illegal that activity might be. I suppose it is not so much whether things are not as bad as they ought to be or could have been. It is, rather, whether things could be, could have been, much better. In the Division of Pacific and Asian History of the Australian National University, Oanh Collins helped with the preparation of the manuscript. The Division itself supported my research on contemporary Fijian politics for which I will always remain grateful. I am also grateful to readers and scholars who have over the years provided me with information and insight into Fiji politics. I hope that they will accept my heartfelt gratitude collectively. Padma has been my 'partner in crime' for more than thirty years. Her support and encouragement have been indispensible. Brij V. Lal Canbe...
Chapter 1: Retrospect We have the Indians here and we want to make the best of it. We are the Colony, not the Indians. Sir Henry Marks, 1927 A.D. Patel arrived in Fiji on 11 October 1928. By then, Fiji had been a colony of Great Britain for exactly 54 years, its social, economic and political structures determined by a series of decisions taken in the last quarter of the 19th century. Patel and others like him would spend the next 40 years battling the system, trying to dismantle the foundations of a closed, racially compartmentalised colonial order. The task was fraught, for with the assistance of powerful entrenched interests in Fiji's plural society, the colonial government was often able to arrest or stifle any change that it did not authorise itself or which threatened the status quo. For this purpose, it drew upon a large and well-tested arsenal of punitive tactics used by the colonial powers at different times throughout the world. These included, among others, the inculcation of fear, intimidation, arbitrary exercise of power, exile, divide and rule, and a variety of rewards for working within the system. In Fiji, as elsewhere, colonialism was ultimately about control, over people and over resources. To challenge the authority and legitimacy of the colonial order, then, was to undertake a daunting task fraught with potentially disastrous consequences. It was an unequal and unenviable contest; working within the system was more lucrative and rewarding than opposing it. This book is about the vision and work of one man, who also embodied the aspirations of many in his community and the country at large. In broad terms, this is the story of a counter-colonial project of the type mounted by nationalist leaders in former colonies of the European powers in Africa and Asia. In these places, the nationalist leaders triumphed, albeit after a period of long struggle, and were handed the reins of power when the imperialists departed. In Fiji, the nationalists and all those who opposed established ways of doing things were castigated and consigned to the margins. To understand the situation as it existed when A.D. Patel arrived in Fiji, it is necessary to look at the formative years of modern Fiji, both for background as well as for context. The modern history of Fiji begins on 10 October 1874 when Fiji became a British Crown colony. 1 This historic event itself was the culmination of a series of developments going back to the early years of the 19th century, when sustained 1 The literature here is vast, but the following provide a good guide to the literature:
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